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Framework for Community-Based
Degradation Assessment for the Kalahari,
Botswana
Andrew Dougill & Mark Reed
School of the Environment,
University of Leeds
Research Context:
Natural Resource Use Issues in Kalahari
Kalahari has moved to a livestock-dominated system with
commercialisation and fencing of rangelands
Contested views on extent of rangeland degradation due to
different assessment approaches (e.g. soil degradation,
ecological change, remote sensing, economic, and social)
Community empowerment increased by need for water user
groups to maintain boreholes & policy support for fencing
communal rangelands
Research Context:
International and Policy Context
UNCCD stresses the importance of community-action, through
the development of “integrated sets of physical, biological,
social and economic indicators … (which are) pertinent,
quantifiable and readily verifiable” (UN 1994, Article 8d)
Community assessments of land degradation more widely used
for arable systems (e.g. Stocking and Murnaghan, 2001) than
for pastoral rangelands
Botswanan Ministry of Agriculture supporting a
UNEP project (IVP) to develop participatory range
monitoring & management tools to conserve
biodiversity & rehabilitate degraded rangelands
Sustainability Indicators
Dual demands on environmental sustainability indicators 1.
2.
To empower communities they must be simple, rapid
& inexpensive, as well as credible, transferable,
dependable & confirmable (Pretty, 2001)
To link to environmental debates & to gain policy-maker
acceptance they must be accurate & reliable
No accepted framework for participatory identification,
evaluation, selection and quantification of sustainability
indicators
Research Aims
To develop and test a methodological framework for community
assessment of rangeland degradation indicators & sustainable
management options
To apply this framework to 3 IVP study locations across
Botswana
To discuss the potential for such methods to be used in future
national assessments of rangeland degradation
Research Setting
Semi-structured interviews
Oral Histories
Focus
Groups
Matrix
Ranking
Participatory
Mapping
Ecological
sampling
Methodological framework for participatory indicator development
Research Findings Southern Kgalagadi District
Framework successfully applied to derive “accurate & reliable”
degradation indicators (Reed & Dougill, 2002)
Different indicators accepted by different groups - Commercial
& communal farmers use different assessment approaches
Process-based indicators (e.g. early loss of palatable grasses
&/or poor livestock health) recognised by local experts &
essential to offering improved management advice
Integration into a range assessment guide complete & to be
applied by extension workers to examine adoption rates &
management impacts
Research Findings - Use of Framework at
IVP Mid-Boteti Study Site
Framework used to train team of IVP and Ministry of Agriculture
staff in participatory & ecological methods (during 17 day site
visit) to enable application to other IVP study sites
Difficulties caused by complex interactions of drought,
dessication, disease & degradation that makes the latter
difficult for communities to identify
Key informants (“farmer experts”) critical to provision of locally
applicable list of degradation indicators & associated
management options
Similar issues of bush encroachment prevalent in this Mopane
woodland area, whilst floodplain grassland zone resilient with
access key to future sustainability
Research Findings - Use of Framework at
IVP SW Kgalagadi Study Site
A region widely perceived as degradation ‘hotspot’, yet
communities views focus on drought & dessication rather than
degradation, due in part to Govt drought relief programmes
Do recognise decline in biodiversity that will reduce fodder
diversity & livelihood options, however limited changes to NR
management practices
Remaining Questions /
Research Issues
Broad differences in degradation indicators provided show that
although methodological framework is transferable, different
indicators needed for different land uses & ecological settings
Time & labour intensive method of degradation assessment
Does research both inform & empower communities to move
towards sustainable rangeland management?
Issues of adoption & management adaptations need further study,
in relation to local community institutions & extension services
National and international scale (e.g. FAO’s LADA project)
assessments will require integration of community monitoring
with larger-scale environmental measures
Follow on national project to build on IVP project studies